Designing online discussions

Learning Goals Identify the ideal structure of an online discussion. Recognize questions that both will or will not work to create robust online discussions. Develop higher-order thinking discussion questions by utilizing Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Structuring weekly discussions response post deadline date (Sunday, 11:59pm) M T W R F Sa Su If possible, your online discussions should take place during the same time periods each week (for example, weekly discussions could begin Monday mornings and end each following Sunday night). To encourage a back-and-forth discussion, students should be given two due dates. They should be required to post their original response to the discussion question by the first due date (e.g., using the prior discussion window example, Wednesday by 11:59pm could be the first deadline) and be required to substantially respond to one or two classmates by the end of the discussion. A “substantial response” would require that the student responds with more than “I disagree” or “Good point,” but you may want to further break down requirements. Start of week’s unit End of week’s unit original post deadline (Wednesday, 11:59pm)

Grading online discussions Exceeding Expectations
10 points Post comprehensively addresses the topic, adds value to discussion with stimulating posts Posts in-depth, incisive reflections that demonstrate critical thinking; shares real-world experiences and examples Well-written posts made within required timeframe; no grammar/spelling errors Meeting Expectations
8-9 points Posts are on-topic, relevant, and contain original content Posts elicit reflections from and/or build on ideas of others; show evidence of knowledge and understanding of content, may include occasional examples Posts use complete sentences and rarely have grammar/spelling errors Emerging Towards Expectations
7 points Posts are on-topic, but may lack originality and/or fail to elicit reflections from or build on ideas of others; examples may be made but may be irrelevant or unclear how they connect to course content Posts may contain multiple grammar/spelling errors Below Expectations
1-6 points Posts do not contain enough reference back to original topic or may not address the issue at hand sufficiently Little evidence of knowledge/understanding of course content is shown; examples missing Posts contain incomplete sentences and/or may not adhere to standard English grammar/spelling 0 points Student did not complete discussion board question. Students should be given clear expectations regarding how their participation in online discussions will be graded. A rubric should be provided on the syllabus for students to reference, and should be used to grade student discussions. It is important to grade these discussions quickly after they have finished, as the positive or negative feedback students receive motivate them to continue completing their work on time and clarify expectations.

Crafting “discussable” questions Who was the president of the United States during World War II? Image attribute: By Marek Kultys [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons Image attribute: By Elias Goldensky (1868-1943) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Not all questions are equal! Many questions cannot truly be “discussed.” For example, if you asked the discussion question, “Who was president of the United States during World War II?” or even something a bit more complicated, such as “Explain the process of mitosis,” most of your student answers would look the same, or very similar, to one another. Students would not be bringing up different points, and thus would have little to nothing to converse with their classmates about. Explain the process of mitosis.

Crafting “discussable” questions Do you believe the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima was the correct one? Explain. However, if you were to ask a question such as, “Do you believe the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima was the correct one? Explain.” or “Based on what you have learned so far, how do you think climate change will impact future generations?”, students are forced to support a point in a way that other students may view differently. These questions, which force students to analyze a situation and draw (perhaps differing) conclusions, can foster a back-and-forth discussion between classmates as they review each other’s perspectives. I think it was the right decision because… That’s a good point, but…

Using Bloom’s Taxonomy to create discussion questions Bloom’s Taxonomy, developed in 1956 by Benjamin Bloom, helps us define and distinguish between different levels of thinking and understanding. Using Bloom’s Taxonomy can help you develop higher-order thinking questions that can lead to conversation in your online course. Well-written discussion questions ask students to utilize higher-order thinking skills, which are demonstrated in the uppermost tiers of Bloom’s Taxonomy: analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Source: Armstrong, Patricia. (2014). Bloom’s Taxonomy. Retrieved 1 October 2014, from http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/